So this has been.my favorite song of OTEP's since it came out in 2004, and I always thought it was a song about a child's narrative of suffering in an abusive Christian home. But now that I am revisiting the lyrics, I am seeing something totally new.
This song could be gospel of John but from the perspective of Jesus.
Jesus was NOT having a good time up to and during the crucifixion. Everyone in the known world at the time looked to him with fear, admiration or disgust and he was constantly being asked questions. He spoke in "verses, prophesies and curses". He had made an enemy of the state, and believed the world was increasingly wicked and fallen from grace, or that he was in the "mouth of madness".
The spine of atlas is the structure that allows the titan to hold the world up. Jesus challenged the state and in doing so became a celebrated resistance figure. It also made him public enemy #1.
All of this happened simply because he was doing his thing, not because of any agenda he had or strategy.
And then he gets scourged (storm of thorns)
There are some plot holes here but I think it's an interesting interpretation.
We’ve attacked and we’re waiting to eat
The sides are calm (The sides are calm)
And we don’t know if we’re making our
We are not sure what it is that you say
We’re waiting for our (waiting for our)
Ships as the night turns to day
And we’re starved and we’re parched
We’ll rip into the flesh atop the spines with which we arch
And we’ll turn all the runs in our stockings to webs
We’ll voice them in the forest
We’ll make them our (Make them our)
Make them our beds
All the crowds are laughing at their lemon lace
They were birthed without a face
Don’t sing soft it’s what they want
They will turn your stomach into shards
Amongst the hogs stuck in the yard
And when they say they’ve had enough
They’ll take the flowers from the dust
And drop the orchids on your old age
All the girls have gathered ‘round now
They’re staring (Staring at)
The stars as they start to go out
One by one you will line them all up
You will make a toast (Make a toast)
To others who’ve not given up
And we laugh when you choke
We will drag you to the desert
So you’re burnt and you’re broke
And your wife will draw straws
For the next on the list
One by one they’ll bicker
While the stars they still (The stars they still)
The stars they still exist
It’s exactly this that drives us to be mad
We’re not quite sure what we’ve had
You won’t want to miss this part
We’ll slip into our hunting hats and wait
Around the house and when we pray
We’ll ask for mercy for our sins
And all the things we never did alone
I wait for my husband to get home
And when the cops ask me the reason
I will say I don’t really know
‘Cause we’re all in the shit for sure
And I love to feel your fingers up my skirt
‘Cause we’re all in the shit for sure
And I love to feel your fingers up my skirt
Up my skirt
In the desert we will dirty our hands till they’re clean
And in our beds we’ll watch our heads explode before we dream
The sides are calm (The sides are calm)
And we don’t know if we’re making our
We are not sure what it is that you say
We’re waiting for our (waiting for our)
Ships as the night turns to day
And we’re starved and we’re parched
We’ll rip into the flesh atop the spines with which we arch
And we’ll turn all the runs in our stockings to webs
We’ll voice them in the forest
We’ll make them our (Make them our)
Make them our beds
All the crowds are laughing at their lemon lace
They were birthed without a face
Don’t sing soft it’s what they want
They will turn your stomach into shards
Amongst the hogs stuck in the yard
And when they say they’ve had enough
They’ll take the flowers from the dust
And drop the orchids on your old age
All the girls have gathered ‘round now
They’re staring (Staring at)
The stars as they start to go out
One by one you will line them all up
You will make a toast (Make a toast)
To others who’ve not given up
And we laugh when you choke
We will drag you to the desert
So you’re burnt and you’re broke
And your wife will draw straws
For the next on the list
One by one they’ll bicker
While the stars they still (The stars they still)
The stars they still exist
It’s exactly this that drives us to be mad
We’re not quite sure what we’ve had
You won’t want to miss this part
We’ll slip into our hunting hats and wait
Around the house and when we pray
We’ll ask for mercy for our sins
And all the things we never did alone
I wait for my husband to get home
And when the cops ask me the reason
I will say I don’t really know
‘Cause we’re all in the shit for sure
And I love to feel your fingers up my skirt
‘Cause we’re all in the shit for sure
And I love to feel your fingers up my skirt
Up my skirt
In the desert we will dirty our hands till they’re clean
And in our beds we’ll watch our heads explode before we dream
Lyrics submitted by deadnexttuesday
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this song is about marriage and how imperfect it is everyone knows how hard it is to keep a marriage up but we sit around and expect everything to be perfect inside of the marriage but in the song she has had an affair and it's talking about how everyone is looking down on her and her lover for it and how she knows they will be "punished" for the things they have done ("We will drag you to the desert So you’re burnt and you’re broke")
This song is about wives burning their husbands alive and eating them.